Women Take to Streets in Yemen
Thousands of women demonstrated Monday in front of Yemen's foreign ministry in the capital, Sanaa, demanding U.N. intervention in the ongoing unrest in the Persian Gulf nation, residents and eyewitnesses said.
The protest comes a day after the first woman was killed in a demonstration against the government, according to opposition activists.
The women called for sanctions against President Ali Abdullah Saleh and asked that he be tried by the International Criminal Court.
They also alleged that snipers were on the rooftop of the foreign ministry Sunday.
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The protests came hours after gunfire and loud explosions reverberated throughout the capital early Monday.
Medics in Change Square said at least four people were killed and another 26 injured after government forces raided parts of the capital. Another eight people died and 20 were injured in government raids on civilian property, said Abdulqawi al-Qaisi, a prominent opposition leader and head of the Sadeq Ahmar media office.
"The death toll is expected to rise as a number of the injured are in critical condition," he said.
According to eyewitnesses, government security forces clashed with tribesmen loyal to Hashid tribal leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar in the Hasabah neighborhood in northern Sanaa. Government forces attacked the tribal leader's family residences, al-Qaisi said.
"The government attacks against innocent civilians and the Ahmar family continued for hours and hundreds of explosions were heard throughout the morning, causing fear throughout the capital," he said.
Residents and witnesses also reported that the Republican Guard was bombarding the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division, loyal to Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who withdrew his support for Saleh in March.
The embattled Saleh said Sunday that "strong documentation of the cooperation" between al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood indicate a military coup that is destabilizing the country. He described the opposition as "insane people, who can't sleep and only want to take power."
"The international community must stop Saleh from killing his own people," al-Qaisi said Monday. "If no intervention takes place, he will continue killing and the casualties will rise."
On Sunday night, three people died in Sanaa when a rocket-propelled grenade hit bystanders, medics said.
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